Author name: Patti Talbot

Ever since I got on my soapbox about hope, people have been sending me wonderful resources related to the topic. My sweet friend Tammy Ulrich recently sent me a video featuring Jane Fonda talking about hope. I’m taking the liberty of sharing my take on what I heard. Jane is a pretty fitting ambassador for […]

Earlier this week we talked about the roar versus regulation as it relates to the concept of courage. Then we considered reactivity versus rhythm in sound waves as a metaphor for the same general message.  Today I want to add another frame.  High drama versus genuine depth. Both are powerful. Both are water in this metaphor. One

What’s the  Shape of Courage? Earlier this week I wrote about roaring versus regulation in human interaction. That reflection led me to think about sound waves. If you look at a waveform, reactivity appears as spikes. It is sharp, irregular, loud. Rhythm appears as pattern and cadence. Both carry energy. Only one carries shape. The

In a moment when conversations about immigration, policing, public safety, and gun access dominate our national dialogue, we need to reconsider what we mean by courage. We often celebrate speed, intensity, and force. But those qualities alone do not create safety. They amplify whatever nervous system is holding power. Several of you noted that quick

Leadership often rewards speed and decisiveness. But sometimes the deeper lesson is found in the pause. Years ago, I learned this on a fourth-grade field trip. I jump up out of my seat halfway back and bound up the aisle to the front of the school bus. I plop myself into the driver’s seat, grab

I’ve been noticing some pretty bad behavior among outwardly confident people lately. People who have been trained in the confident posture, the confident body language, the confident eye contact, and all the “right” words might know how to demonstrate that they are in control of any given situation, but do they know empathy? Do they

This week, in the wake of Jesse Jackson’s passing, I heard a familiar metaphor that I had not known to attribute to him. Reverend Jackson described our nation not as a single woven cloth, but as a patchwork quilt. Many patches. Many colors. Many histories. Held together by a common thread. For years, during the

If you know me well, you know I often reach for analogy when I am trying to think more clearly. Metaphor has a way of revealing structure where abstract language sometimes obscures it. Lately, I have been examining the relationship between hope and courage. Which precedes the other?Are they independent constructs?Does one generate the other?Can

In basketball, they call the fans the “sixth man,” but what does it mean to be the Sixth Woman? We’re headed to a big game today against Florida State, and as always, I’ll cheer and sing and dance along. But as the self-declared Queen of Hope, I’ve decided my job is bigger than that. Cheerleaders